Welcome to BigScreenBiz.com

and is it worth it?

What you get for your $ if you do the whole deal. I think it's 875.00 for everything. Per person. If you just go to the trade show you can probably get free passes from someone. But you will miss 90% of the event. But: I urge all to get the full ticket. First off it includes tickets to all the screenings. It includes a vastly diminished goody bag o' swag. It includes every meal and most drinks including wine at dinenr for all of MON-TUES-WEDS-THURS: Breakfast-lunch-dinner-desserts cocktails: if you walk elsewhere and eat you still spend a lot of money. The food is not terrible, often good, often innovative. You are included to all the events and parties and speeches (some a total snore and others that are great). If there's stars: you will see-hear-eat with them. Once you have spent air-car-hotel-etc.etc. why not go the extra distance of 400-600.00 and be a part of the whole thing? Plus all those meals you sit with your fellow exhibitors, make new friends. That's why I spend the full ride.

"Plus all those meals you sit with your fellow exhibitors, make new friends. That's why I spend the full ride."

This is the best reason. You meet people, you talk about how you do things vs. them etc. We have meet and made friends with people on this board. I would not have even know about Bigscreen without meeting Mike at Showest.

We have meet studio people too who have been very nice and offered us their cards and some we have even kept in contact with.

We have made friends with vendors even large ones like Pepsi. When I had trouble with Pepsi over the holidays I copied the nation guy on the reply. Did it get me better service than I would have gotten with a regular complaint?? It did get me hockey tickets and the local people now know I have contacts with people in corporate. Made me feel better too.

last year I saw enough about Hangover to know it would be huge, saw Hurt Locker and The Cove (both won the acad award)...I go to re-set my movie buying clock.

Unfortunately, being a predominantly mainstream theater, booking is relatively easy. Hurt Locker and The Cove not our cup of tea. We are trying to build that independent business but they still are lucky to gross $200-300 over a two week period. So we have to wait until the prints are collecting dust. Playing Pirate Radio right now to very small audiences.

Last year there was not anything that I wish I did not get. What I wanted but did not get-I did not qualify for. The only regret was not getting Blind Side on the break. BUT, which movie should I have skipped? 2012?? That filled a whole very well. Old Dogs? New Moon? (our only 3 sold out shows ever)

I will grant that if you have any kind of independent business, then Showest could add some value. For me, I do not see any value in the screenings. we have screened 2 movies in over 3 years. Be Kind Rewind (my wife was visiting a friend in St. Louis otherwise she never would have seen it) and Golden Compass (wanted to see if it was really that religious bashing).

and there were lots of scantily clad go-go dancers at a Nic Cage film reception party!!!!!. Ice cream sundaes! Something for everyone!

WANT TO SEE PRINCE OF PERSIA THIS YEAR!